Improvement in sewing-machines



D. HARRIS.

Sewing Machine N. PETERS. Photo-Ulhmznplwr. Willvington. D. c.

- Patented Oct.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL HARRIS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,672, dated Octobera), 1658.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL HARRIS, of Boston,in the county of Suffolk and State of ll/Iassaehnsetts, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and sufficient specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing,which is aperspective view of themachine complete, and to the letters marked thereon.

As my present sewing-machineis in its most prominent characteristicssubstantially the same as those heretofore patented by me, I shalldescribe more specifically those parts of the same in which are involvedmy present invention-i. 0., the mode of transmitting the, motive powerfrom the fly-wheel to the operating parts of the machine, the peculiarconstruction of the goose-neck orbody of the same, and the method bywhich I obtain and regulate the feed.

The bed-plate A is not permanently attached to the table B, but turns atthe back corners on two pivots inserted in lugs rising from the table ata, and also rests at the front corners upon two disks of india-rubber atb,- and since the goose-neck O, which supports the needlebar and all theapparatus, both for operating it and for producing the feed, and alsothe pinion D, which transmits the motion from the fiy-wheel E to thatapparatus, are firmly attached to said bed plate, the one to the upperand the other to the lower side, respectively, as shown, it is manifestthat by lifting the bedplate about the pivots a the pinion D will atonce be disconnected fromthefly-wheelE and the motion of the operatingparts of the machine be promptly arrested, while the connec tions andmutual relations of all other parts of the machine are entirelyundisturbed. In order that the efficient contact between the fly wheeland pinion may be thus readily broken when the bed-plate and pinion areraised, and also perfectly and instantly restored when they are let downagain, the connection between them is not made by cogs, the teeth ofwhich would be liable to be broken if subjected to this sudden gearingand ungearing, and could not be so readily thrown into w orkingcontact,) but by a ring, 0, of india-rubber or gutta-percha, fittinginto a groove 011 the periphery of one wheel, and equally fitting ontoand either acting upon or being acted upon by, as the case may be, theperiphery of the other.

It is obvious that a gutta-percha band on the periphery of either or ofboth wheels, being either flat or round,would be equivalent to the ringand groove. The centers, therefore, of the two wheels being so placedthat the pinion can readily belifted up from the fly-wheel, and that thegutta-percha ring or band will be closely pressed between theirperipheries when the bed-plate rests upon the disks 1) b, the end isobviously attained. The motion thus received by the pinion or pulley Dis transmitted through the crank e to the bent leverf, whose upper arm,f, works the needle-bar g. This bent lever, as is shown, is containedand rocks upon a pin, h, as a fulcrum in thehollow of the goose-neck b,which has therefore been cast in two or more pieces, in order to admitthe introduction of said bent lever; but by giving to thisgooseneck theshape and proportions shown, I am enabled to introduce the lever intothe completely-formed body, and consequently am left at liberty to castthe latter in one piece about a core, securing thereby a great gain inpoint both of economy and strength.

On one side of the case F, in which the needle-b ar works and which isriveted to the end of the goose-neck G, as shown, is pivoted by lugs atL- the feed-stock G, to the lower ends of whose arms is attached theband j, provided with a spring and finger-piece, as shown, through whichit can at any moment he raised from the cloth. Projecting from thisfeed-stock, and in front of the ease F, is aplate, k, of the same widthwith the case, from which is cut out a quadrangle whose vertical sidesare parallel to those of the plate itself, but whose upper side is veryoblique, as clearly shown in the drawing. Into the lower part of thisquadrangle is fitted a slide, 1, furnished with a set-screw, and whoseupper side is parallel with the upper side of the open space itself.Into this space a pin, on, projects from the needle-bar, which, as thelatter rises and descends, impinges alternately upon the oblique at theupper side of the slot or space and upon that of the slide Z,whichforms, as it were, the bottom of the plate It. This plate, thuspresenting inclined planes to a force moving in a rectilinear path, isitself moved laterally alternately to the right and to the left aboutthe pivot i, and moves with it, of course, the feed-stock G and band j,and thus feeds the cloth to the work. As by elevating the slide Z isbrought sooner in the descending parts of the pin m, whose action uponthe plate 75, and consequently upon the feed-bandj, thus commencessooner each time, and as the said action continues in all cases untilthe pin in has reached the end of its downward stroke, it is obviousthat the con-o tinuance of this lateral motion, and consequently theextent of the feed and the length of the stitch, is then regulated bythe position of the said slide.

Having thus fully described my improvements, what I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- V 1. Driving theneedle-arm and the apparatus for effecting the feed and for forming theloops in sewing-machines by means of a pulley provided with anindia-rubber ring or its equivalent, and hung in brackets cast onto thebed-plate, substantially as described, in conr bination with afly-wheel, also hung in brackets, but which are attached to the table,said pulley and fly-wheel being arranged in relation to each other sothat they may be readjecting into said slot, so as to operate in themanner and for the purposes described;

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification beforetwo subscribing witnesses. I

l DANL. HARRIS. \Vitnesses: Y

A; POLLAK, c L. A. BIGELOW.

